Catching Up With the Astronaut Mark Kelly

January 5, 2013

Download

By KATE MURPHY

Capt. Mark Kelly is a former Navy pilot and NASA astronaut and is the husband of the former congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who survived an assassination attempt in 2011. The couple has formed a political action committee, Gabby PAC, to promote civil political discourse and the election of moderates to Congress. Captain Kelly is also the author of “Mousetronaut,” a recently published children’s book loosely based on a mouse that accompanied him on one of his space shuttle missions.

READING I used to read a lot of science fiction — Robert Heinlein and Isaac Asimov — but then I started doing science reality. Now I read more nonfiction, particularly if it has a military aspect to it. I’m about halfway through “Unbroken,” by Laura Hillenbrand. The strength, toughness and tenacity of the main character reminds me of my wife, Gabby. Also I flew ground attack in Operation Desert Storm, which is what the character in “Unbroken” was doing in World War II, so I could relate to the story a little bit. I got shot at a lot, but I never got shot down like he did.

LISTENING That doesn’t change much for me: U2 and Aerosmith. Also Coldplay. We picked their song “Speed of Sound” to go along with a slide show we put together for my second space shuttle flight. It went really well with the pictures. Also, Chris Martin, the lead singer of Coldplay, is married to Gabby’s second cousin, Gwyneth Paltrow. Calexico is one of Gabby’s favorite bands. They’re from Tucson and are a rock band but their music has a heavy Mexican influence, with mariachis. It’s pretty neat with the horns.

Philip Scott Andrews / The New York Times

WATCHING Gabby and I saw the latest James Bond movie, “Skyfall.” It was good, but my personal favorite 007 movie is “Casino Royale,” because of the poker scene. I used to have a poker game at home a couple of times a month. I wasn’t good, but more important than that, the people I was playing with — other astronauts and a few neighbors — were really bad.

PURCHASING I bought my wife a new engagement ring for our fifth anniversary — a diamond with a couple of sapphires. I never was happy with the first one. She was happy with it, but I thought she deserved better.

RACING I recently went with a friend and drove a couple of racecars — a Porsche 911 and 944 — at Inde Motorsports Ranch, a private track in Willcox, Ariz. It was a lot of fun. Without spaceflight being available to me anymore, I have to find a replacement. It reminded me of flying high-speed, low-altitude routes in the military.

EATING I’ve started to eat more kale. But delicious and kale are not synonymous. If you put it in scrambled eggs, it isn’t so bad.

Kate Murphy is a journalist in Houston who writes frequently for The New York Times.